Day 5 of #30DaysWild: my response to Dr Miriam Darlington's 'Being close to the grass' Prompt

I don't find it easy to reach the grass on account of my mobility issues, but during the last few days the grass in our garden has practically reached me, particularly when I am sitting down. This extra growth is because we attended last year's Suffolk Wildlife Trust Nature Summit and made a pledge to 'say no to the mow', with the exception of a walk-through trail, which has been invaluable during lockdown for my shielded exercise. 

A couple of days ago I was sitting outside, scanning the blades of grass for signs of ladybirds as we have more blackfly than ever. I was not exactly richly rewarded, but I did find a couple of 7-spots, like the one in the photo above and below. 

We often imagine a bird's eye-view, but what would it be like to be half a centimetre long and surrounded by a green jungle of stalks? Authors like Lewis Carroll, Jonathan Swift, 'B.B', Beatrix Potter, Hans Christian Anderson, Richard Adams, Kenneth Grahame and numerous others have, to one degree or another, given this question some kind of thought. A number of these writers were creating imaginary landscapes: others had political messages to impart. Some have helped us to adjust our outlook and perspective, enabling us, in Blake's familiar words, to see 'a World in a Grain of Sand'.

Would I write a poem myself to explore the nature of the ladybird's grassy wilderness? Well, I might, but I haven't just yet. Instead I decided to have a play with one or two of the Photoshop and Photoshop Elements filters, bearing this thought in my head. These are a few of my resulting images, some more fantastical than others. I hope they will make you smile, but perhaps they will also help you to share my ponderings...

This last ladybird, the one above in a mosaic-filter style, is possibly my favourite of the experimental images. I think this is because it reminds me of an exquisite stained-glass window in Alloway Parish Church in Scotland, Alloway being the birthplace of Robbie Burns. The text accompanying the image is from verse 22 of the eighth chapter of Genesis.

You can see these Alloway stained glass ladybirds above and below. They are part of the Four Seasons Window, designed by Susan Bradbury.  

Next time you see a ladybird in the long grass, why not take a moment to wonder what its world must be like. 

Grass features in a surprising number of poems. I am posting links to three that you might enjoy...

• A Blade of Grass by Brian Patten
• In Tall Grass by Carl Sandburg (beautiful, and elegiac in tone)
• On Not Mowing The Lawn by Mary Oliver

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This post was written in response to Dr Miriam Darlington's #30DaysWildCreativity Facebook prompt. You can find Miriam on Twitter: @MimDarling

 

Signs of Spring ... Snowdrops in Suffolk

Snowdrops, Martlesham, January 2018

It was a dull windy afternoon, so we went to Martlesham (on the other side of the Deben from Sutton Hoo) in search of signs of spring. St Mary's churchyard will soon be awash with yellow and purple Crocus flowers, but we were hoping to see Snowdrops, our first Snowdrops of the year.

 The church sits above Martlesham Creek ...

... and, sure enough, there were a few early drifts of Snowdrops for us to enjoy.

 Some were still in bud,

 ... while others were in bloom.

I noticed one early Crocus flower ...

There were a few Holly berries, adding a splash of brightness to the hedge.

We peeped inside the church just before it was locked, and saw a wall painting (St Christopher bearing the Christ-Child) ...

 ... and some beautiful panes of stained glass. I particularly liked the sheep faces.

1903 stained glass by Walter Pearce, the Good Shepherd

I was delighted to see my first Daisy of 2019: may there be many more!

Northern Holiday, 2017 (1): Puffins

Those who have followed my blog over the years will know that Puffins are my favourite bird. We almost missed these seasonal visitors this year; but, as you can see, there were still a few left at RSPB Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast when we were there in early July. I'm running very behind, but never mind!

Above: I am intrigued by the feathers on the nape of the neck...

Most remaining Puffins were still taking care of Pufflings.

The cliff-face photo above, taken with my zoom lens fully extended,
shows a few of the adult birds. 

There are also a couple of Razorbills.

Every so often we got a really good view of a Puffin. 

This photo shows the cliff, with Gannets, Razorbills, a Herring gull and a Puffin. I think I can also make our Kittiwakes and Guillemots.

We got the impression that this Puffin was about to fly, but it may have been waiting for its mate to return with sand eels.

We broke our journey south in Yorkshire, so the photos above are actually from our last lap. We had spent the first part of our holiday near, and frequently on, Lindisfarne in Northumbria. I wish I had taken a better photo, but I love this stained glass window, created by Borderdale Stained Glass, in the Anglican church on the island. Not only does it show a handsome Puffin but also an Eider (affectionately known as a 'Cuddy' duck after St Cuthbert) and the haul-out of Grey Seals who sang most beguilingly each evening at sunset.

I shall end this post back at Bempton Cliffs. Do take a look at the Gannet's feet! I have always been so intrigued by their eyes that I don't think I have ever noticed these before. There were plenty of Guillemots on this rock. These are all wonderful seabirds, but the Puffin will always be the show-stealer for me.